The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament (ISC) is the committee of Parliament with statutory responsibility for oversight of the UK Intelligence Community.
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Authority
The Committee was established under the Intelligence Services Act 1994, but its powers were reinforced in the Justice and Security Act 2013.
Remit
Under the Justice and Security Act 2013 and the accompanying Memorandum of Understanding (which can be found at Annex A in the Committee’s Annual Report 2013-2014), the ISC oversees the policies, expenditure, administration and operations of MI5, MI6, GCHQ, Defence Intelligence, the National Cyber Force, the Joint Intelligence Organisation, the National Security Secretariat (NSS) and Homeland Security Group.
The Committee sets its own agenda and work programme, taking evidence from Ministers, the Heads of the intelligence and security Agencies, senior officials, experts, and academics as it considers necessary.
Membership
The Committee consists of nine Members, drawn from both Houses of Parliament and appointed by Parliament. The Chair of the Committee is elected by its Members. The Members are subject to Section 1(1)(b) of the Official Secrets Act 1989 and are routinely given access to highly classified material in carrying out their duties.
Current Inquiries
The Committee is currently conducting an Inquiry into Cloud technologies, and an Inquiry into the Intelligence Community’s role and activity in connection with the loss of data relating to ARAP applicants in February 2022.
News
For earlier news items, please select ‘More News’ from the bottom of this page, or ‘News’ from the navigation bar.
16 December 2025
The Rt Hon. the Lord Beamish PC, Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament (ISC) has today made the following statement:
“On Friday last week, it was announced that there would be significant reforms to Defence intelligence functions - including the launch of a single organisation for all Defence intelligence units and organisations.
Not only was the ISC not properly informed in advance of this announcement, but there had been no prior consultation, or any information of substance provided to the Committee on what the MoD itself has described as a “major overhaul of Defence’s intelligence organisations” under the leadership of the Chief of Defence Intelligence.
The Justice and Security Act 2013 and the ISC’s Memorandum of Understanding clearly place the intelligence activities undertaken by the Chief of Defence Intelligence - including intelligence collection, analysis and training - under the remit of the Intelligence and Security Committee.
The lack of consultation and notification on this matter is therefore completely unacceptable. I wrote to the Secretary of State for Defence on Friday to convey my deep disappointment with the manner in which this was relayed to the Committee. The Committee has only now, this morning, received an apology from the Secretary of State for Defence.
As the reforms mark a significant reshaping of the way in which intelligence activities are structured within Defence, the Committee will be requiring the Secretary of State for Defence to appear before it to brief us fully. The Committee will then take a view.”
12:17, 16 December 2025
15 December 2025
The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament has today published its Annual Report 2023-2025, and has also issued a press notice:
15:17, 15 December 2025
16 October 2025
The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament has today provided the following Press Notice:
16:15, 16 October 2025
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